Page 23 of Villainous Greed

“No,” I whispered. “No.” I demanded. My knees were wet. Before I pulled her into my arms, I already knew… She was gone. The tears came, and I hated them, and I hated her for not trusting me. For letting herself die instead of coming to me. The anger wasn’t enough because it hurt. I must be dying. Did I want to live? How could I die? Even as my mind cracked in two, I pulled the hair tie out of her curls and ran my fingers throughher hair. I hugged her against my chest because I didn’t hate her at all. Yes, I felt enraged when she ran and told those lies before leaving me forever. But I wanted to be livid with her while she lived and burst my heart apart. Notgone.My curse wept. That insignificant life with Nova and the others crumbled away in my head. That wondrous, far, far away place Nova wanted away from the rest of the world… Those fantasies went up in smoke and in their place, greed surged to life once more.

I needed everything, everything—anything I could get my hands on. I couldn’t properly mourn a life lost because greed was going rampant. Nothing,nothing,would be enough to make up for what I’d lost.

A whimpering sound caught my ear, and I turned slowly. I blinked away the blurred vision as I saw Odin’s lifeless body hung up on the door by a spear. Odin… I lowered my head, unable to stomach the sight. The whimpering grew worse. Standing, I followed the sound. The pitiful cry came from behind the door, so I had to maneuver Odin on the ground.

“Sofia?” I called out.

“You came too late, you came too late,” she chanted, which drove a deeper ache in my heart and throughout my bones. Suddenly, I wasn’t fifteen. I became aged, withered—nothing but a curse. Scooping her up, I carried her outside where she watched and cried as I dug four graves. But for me, it should have been five. I lost all hope for happiness without Nova.

Chapter Ten

Nova’s Perspective Of The Following Day.

I flinched as Sofia’s fingers touched my bruised eye.

“Does it hurt?” she asked.

Beside us, the boys watched nervously. Instead of answering, I gently pushed Sofia into Odin.

“Stay here. When the bands are off, me and August will come back for you all,” I ordered.

My quick act of anchoring August and me together by magic had worked. A punch to my face was a small price to pay. I winced as I tried to squint. Since the day Derrick’s shield broke, he aggressively imposed himself on me. It started with a simple kiss, but by the frantic way he stared and gripped my shoulders, that Harvest person was making Derrick unusually desperate around me. Like he feared I was about to be plucked from his shackles forever.

It was a risk bonding my body to August to block any ill advances from me. I had done it anyway. I’d chance death before ever having Derrick’s lips on mine again. And that’s what happened after we returned from watching movies with August. The camp was in disarray. Several of Derrick’s demons weredead. Someone had visited, and it hadn’t been friendly. Derrick ran and hugged me when he saw me, the relief clear on his face. But the second he tried to kiss me; the spell blasted him back. I’d never seen his face twist into fury so swiftly. He didn’t know what kept him from touching me intimately, but he knew I’d done something. He punched me, then immediately after, tried to soothe me while demanding I tell him how to reverse whatever I’d done.

The camp had been in chaos that morning as we snuck out. Derrick was busy with his men, yelling out orders by the campfire. After the beating he gave me the night before; I didn’t think he expected me to head out, so he didn’t guard our cottage either. Still, my heart continued to race as we tip-toed past Derrick while he addressed his men. A group of women were on their knees in front of him and his men, trembling. When he plucked one up by the shoulder, I turned and kept running.

“Your name is Nova now…” his words drifted off.

Oh, Hades. Was he forcing a young proxy to pretend to be me?

I closed my eyes, gave my head a good shake, then started running. Derrick was risking his life and everyone around him so that he could keep me prisoner. He really planned to fool Harvest by saying another witch was me.

After hiding the kids in a tree, I ran alone to meet August. My teeth chattered.I breathed quickly and unevenly.Not from the cold, but from the terror of my actions. If something happened and I died trying to be free, Sofia and the others would die. No, August would take them away even if I perished from the bands, wouldn’t he?

I stopped and simply stared when I saw August in the distance. His back faced me, and it looked like he had hisarms crossed. He really came. And just like that, the chattering, the pants, the fear—everything ceased. When I saw August, I believed everything would be okay.

“August,” I said, gripping my dress nervously. I bit my lip as he turned. I felt like I should say something. There was a wild, fluttering feeling inside me. The emotion was so big, like it might burst out of my chest. A dazzling warmth overcame me. The crazy rush roaring inside me needed to be heard at least once. The feeling was too big to keep to myself. If I died, I didn’t want to keep them. Those feelings were the ones he’d given me. “August—”

He dropped his hands. “I can’t believe you actually came.”

Something about the bleakness in his stare shriveled up the warmth inside me.

Still, I said, “We need to hurry. When we remove the bands, it will alert Derrick. Sofia and the boys—”

He laughed abruptly. “Did you think I’d actually help you and your brats?”

August was different. Maybe not different. Maybe that cold, blank expression was something he’d kept hidden. My toes curled inside my boots. Sofia said we could trust him, and I did, and that’s why I was there, but I stiffened. I didn’t want to believe he was like the others. “What do you mean?”

“If I take off those bands, that’s unnecessary trouble for me,” he explained.

My heart sank. “August… Please don’t do the pranks right now. You said that I was—” I couldn’t believe I was about to say the word.

August pointed to his right ear. “What did I say? I don’t remember. Can you refresh my memory?”

I couldn’t speak. I could only stare as my arms dropped to my sides. My stomach bubbled with a sickness I couldn’t describe. It felt like my insides kept shrinking or pouring to the ground like acid. Only there was nothing around my feet, despite how chaotic my body felt.

With a sigh, August turned, nose crinkling in disgust, as he waved his hand at me. “Please, look at yourself, then me. Isn’t that answer enough?”

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